Gearing



y 27, 1941- w. A. KENNEDY GEARING 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 1, 1939 14/ Ill &

Ennentor; Wooomku Q. KENNEDY Qttorneg Patented May 27, 1941 UNlTED STATES PA'iENT GFFHCE GEABENG .Jos'dfcrd A. Kennedy, Charlotte, N. C.

Application May 1, 1939, Serial No. 271,015

(Cl. '7-i-428) 4 Claims.

This invention relates to a counting mechanism and more especially to a novel means for selectively driving any one of a plurality of resistering devices from the same source.

The invention is particularly applicable to pick counters which are used upon looms in textile mills to keep an accurate record of the production of the loom for each shift. Where a loom operates only one shift each day, it is only necessary to have one registering device; whereas if there are more than one shift; the number of registering devices must be increased accordingly. It is evident that where two shifts a day are operating in the mill, it would be useless to place a triple registering counter on the loom; whereas if a dual register is installed upon the loom and the mill changes from two shifts a day to three, then it will be necessary to add an additional registering device.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a counting mechanism constructed in separable units which may be easily attached or detached from a loom to increase or decrease, respectively, the registering devices according to the number of shifts operated.

It is a further object of this invention to pro vide a counting mechanism comprising a casing having a plurality of registering devices therein, and a second casing detachably mounted thereon which has another re istering device therein with means including a drive shaft, for driving the fist registering devices selectively and also means for disconnecting said second registering device upon a selected connection with one of the first registering devices. By providing a structure of this type, it is possible to have detachable counters which may be joined together when the shifts in the mill are increased, thereby making it possible to use a minimum number of registering devices.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is an isometric view of a counting mechanism embodying the invention;

Figure 2 is a vertical, transverse sectional View taken along the line 22 in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an elevation of the right-hand portion of Figure 1, with the cover removed, showing a portion of the registering devices and the means for selectively connecting these devices to a drive shaft;

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view similar to Figure 2 and taken along the line l4 in Figure 3;

Figure is an enlarged elevation of the operating knob which is used to make a selective engagement with the registering devices;

Figure 6 is a vertical sectional detail view taken along the line 6-6 in Figure 3.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the numerals l8 and Ilindicate lower and upper casings having covers I2 and [4 respectively secured to the front side thereof. The cover i2 has apertures l5 and I6 therein, whereas the cover l4 has an aperture l1 therein. Through the apertures i5 and it, suitable figure wheels l8 and 19, respectively, are visible and these figure wheels have suitable figures thereon which when disposed opposite their respective apertures, will indicate an accurate reading of the number of operations performed by a machine. The aperture IT has figure Wheel 23 visible therethrough which is similar in all respects to figure wheels l8 and ill just described.

The figure wheels 18, I9 and have associated therewith suitable gears 2|, 22 and 23 which are adapted to mesh with pinions 24, 25 and 26 on shaft 27, 28 and 29 respectively. The function of the last-named pinions is to properly rotate the figure wheels to cause an accurate reading to be registered. The figure wheels l8, I8 and 20 are rotatably mounted around shafts 3D, 31 and 32, respectively. These shafts have gears 33, 3 and rotatably mounted therearound, said gears being directly connected to gears 31, 33 and 39 and the figure wheels, by means of p-inions 24, 25 and 25.

Meshing with the gears 33, 34 and 35 are worms 4!), ill and The gears and 4| are rotatably mounted around sleeves 46 and 41 (see Figure 2) which sleeves act as bushings for a vertically disposed drive shaft 43. The lower end of shaft 38 has a fitting 49 secured thereto secured to the lower end of this fitting is a link 53, which link is also secured to another fitting 5!, said fitting 5! having a rod 52 secured to the lower side thereof which is driven by the machine upon which the counting mechanism is mounted.

Disposed around drive shaft 43 and between the worms 4%) and 4| is a grooved member 55 having spring pressed plungers 5B and 51 in opposed ends thereof which are adapted to engage notches 58 and 59, respectively, in the end of worms M1 and 4!. Of course, these plungers are only allowed to penetrate these notches when it is desired to connect drive shaft 48 to a 2 particular set of figure wheels. It will be noted that the member 55 is slidably keyed as at so to shaft 48.

The grooved wheel normally meshes with a gear segment ill on shaft (52. I'his shaft extends through the front cover 52 and has mounted on its outer end a suitable operating knob 64. Fixed in the face of this knob and adjacent the face of the cover if is a pin $5 which fits into either one of cavities es, bl or 68 in the face of the cover, depending upon which counting mechanism is desired to be connected to the drive shaft. This pin 65 is normally held in the selected cavity by means of a compression spring 69 disposed around shaft 52, which spring has one end thereof abutting against the inner face of cover l2 and its other end disposed against a cam l6 which forms an integral part of the shaft. When it is desired to move the grooved wheel upwardly into engagement with the worm 4 i, it is necessary to pull the shaft 62 and its associated knob 64 to the right in Figure 2 or toward the observer in Figure 5, and then rotate the knob in a clockwise direction in Figure 5, until pin will be disposed opposite cavity (it, at which time the knob may be released and the spring 63 will force the pin 65 into this cavity. When it is desired to connect the shaft 43 with the lower worm ail, the knob is turned in an opposite direction until the pin 65 can be released into cavity 58. In other words when pin is disposed in cavity 65 the figure wheels is are connected to shaft is and when this pin is in cavity 63 the figure wheels 58 are connected.

The worms l9 and M are normally held in stationary position, when disengaged from the groove wheel by means of spring-pressed dogs 15 and 5%, respectively. All of the above described mechanism is substantially shown and described in my co-pending patent application, Serial Number 242,824, filed November 25, 1938. It is thought, however, to be necessary to show this much of the former embodiment in order to more clearly disclose the advantages of the present invention.

As heretofore stated, one of the primary objects of this invention is to provide an apparatus where one or more additional registering devices may be superposed upon the present device to take care of additional shifts which might be put on in the mill. Since it is necessary to provide a registering device for each additional shift in the mill and since the number of shifts in a mill vary from time to time, it naturally follows that means must be provided whereby the number of registering apparatus may be varied accordingly. I have therefore provided a novel means whereby the additional counter may be added without disturbing the advantages of the original unit.

The upper end of the drive shaft has a cavity 88 therein which cavity has a diametrically disposed pin 8! therein fitting in a groove 32 in the lower end of a shaft The shaft 83 is axially alined with the shaft 48 and is slidably mounted in the upper casing i l In the position shown in Figure 2, the shaft 83 is connected to the shaft 43, therefore, the registering device in the upper casing driven by the shaft 83 will be operated.

The intermediate portion of the shaft 83 has a diametrically disposed pin therein the ends of which are disposed in longitudinally disposed grooves 85 in worm 22. Also fixedl secured around an intermediate portion of the shaft 83 is a grooved collar 82 by any suitable such as diametrically disposed pin 89. This grooved collar is adapted to accommodate a fork member which fork member is fixedly secured around a vertically disposed shaft 9|, said shaft 9| (Figures 2 and 6) being mounted for vertical sliding movement in the upper casing I I as well as in the upper portion of the lower casing ID. A spring 92 normally forces the shaft Hi downwardly and thereby forces the notch 82, in the lower end of shaft 83, into engagement with the pin 8! in the upper end of shaft 43. It is, therefore, seen that when it is desired to disconnect the upper registering device from the shaft 48, that the upper shaft 83 must be raised by means of the shaft 9|, so that the notch 82 will be raised to such an elev tion that it will not engage pin 8|.

The lower end of the rod 9| is adapted to rest upon the upper end of a member I90, said member being slidably mounted in bosses NH and l 02 (Figures 3 and 6), which are integral with the sidewalls of the lower casing ID. The member ifiil is normally confined in suitable grooves in these bosses by means of plates Hi3 and I04, respectively. By referring to Figure 3, it will be noted that the intermediate portion of member 580 has a notch H35 cut therein in which the cam member 10 is adapted to operate. The upper side of this notch is substantially horizontal and is allowed to rest upon the upper portion of this cam. When in the position shown in Figure 3, neither of the registering devices in the lower casing Id is connected to the drive shaft 48, but the upper registering device in casing 14 is connected since the pin 8! in the lower shaft fits into the notch 82 of the upper shaft.

Let us suppose that it is desired to connect the upper registering device in the lower casing, that is, connect the apparatus so that the figure wheels [9 will be in operation. Then it is only necessary to turn the operating wheel 64 in a clockwise manner in Figure 5, which will cause the shaft 82 to rotate in a clockwise manner in Figure 3. Upon the rotation of this shaft 62 in this manner, the cam 18 will raise the member 1% and at the same time raise the rod 9|. Since this rod 9| is connected to the associate drive shaft 83, this shaft will likewise be raised so as to disengage its lower end from the upper end of drive shaft 43.

When it is desired to connect the drive shaft with the lower counting mechanism in the lower casing, that is to cause the figure wheels I8 to be in operation, then the operating handle 64 is turned in a counter-clockwise manner (Figure 5) which will turn the shaft 62 and the cam 10 in a counter-clockwise manner in Figure 3. This motion will likewise cause the upper shaft 83 to be raised to a disengaged position.

As heretofore stated, when it is desired to have the upper casing only in operation, the parts are placed in the position shown in Figure 3 at which time the lower registering devices will be out of operation; whereas the upper device will be in operation due to the fact that the shafts 83 and 43 remain connected because the low side of cam if is supporting notch ms in lifting member I03.

In the drawings and specification, there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention and although specific terms have been employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation the scope of the invention being set forth in the appended claims.

Iclaim:

1. Counting mechanism comprising a pair of parallel shafts, a third shaft, a drive shaft for said parallel shafts, a second drive shaft for said third shaft, means connecting the second drive shaft to the first drive shaft, means for selectively connecting said parallel shafts to said first drive shaft and means for disconnecting the first drive shaft from the second drive shaft upon making a selective connection between one of the parallel shafts and the first drive shaft.

2. Counting mechanism comprising parallel rotary members, a drive shaft with means for selectively connecting the same to two of the rotary members, a second drive shaft connected to the first drive shaft, and being operatively connected to said third rotary member, means for disconnecting the drive shafts from each other upon making a selective connection between the first drive shaft and one of the two associated rotary members and means for connecting the drive shafts upon disconnecting the first drive shaft from both of said first-named rotary members.

3. In a counter mechanism having a pair of countershafts and a third countershaft, a drive shaft disposed at right angles to the countershafts, a pair of members loosely mounted in spaced relation around the drive shaft and having each a driving connection with the pair of countershafts, a driving member keyed for sliding movement on the drive shaft between the pair of countershafts, the proximate faces of the pair of members and the driving member having clutch faces, means for holding the driving member in neutral position out of contact with either of the pair of members, means for selectively moving the driving member into engagement with one of the pair of members, a driving connection between the drive shaft and the third countershaft, and means controlled by the means for moving the driving member for connecting the third countershaft to the drive shaft when the driving member is in neutral position and for disconnecting the third countershaft from the drive shaft when the driving member is in contact with either of the pair of members for driving one of the pairs of countershafts.

4. In a counter mechanism, the combination of a drive shaft and a pair of countershafts, a third countershaft, a driving member keyed on the drive shaft and slidable longitudinally thereon, a pair of worms mounted around the drive shaft, a gear on each of the pairs of countershafts having engagement with one of the worms mounted around the drive shaft, each end of the member slidably mounted on the drive shaft and the proximate end of the worms having clutch faces, means for moving the driving member longitudinally of the drive shaft for selectively engaging one of the worms at a time for driving one of the pairs of countershafts, means for holding the means for moving the driving memher in neutral position, and means controlled by the means for moving the driving member for connecting the third oountershaft to the drive shaft when the means for moving the driving member is in neutral position and for disconnecting the third countershaft from the drive shaft when the driving member is connected to either of the two worms for driving one of the pair of countershafts.

WOODFORD A. KENNEDY. 

